Nets star Kyrie Irving ready to risk his $140 million contract to block NBA Restart

Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving has reportedly formed a coalition with Los Angeles Lakers guard Avery Bradley to put a stop to the NBA restart, which is set to go down in July. The NBA restart will see 22 teams travel to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, with training sessions scheduled to commence at the beginning of next month. Kyrie Irving, Avery Bradley and reportedly 40 other players are pushing for the derailment of the NBA restart, as the coalition believes it will take the spotlight away from the Black Lives Matter movement.  

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NBA Disney World: Kyrie Irving risking a massive hit in his NBA salary by opposing NBA restart

According to ESPN, Kyrie Irving and Avery Bradley organised conference calls among 40 players to address complaints and oppose the plans of the NBA restart in Orlando. The Athletic reports that Irving's focus will be on the Black Lives Matter movement going forward and he believes that the NBA Disney World restart is likely to draw attention away from the George Floyd protests. If Kyrie Irving and his coalition are able to throw enough punches to derail the NBA restart, it could lead to financial implications for not only the Brooklyn Nets star but also his fellow NBA players. With Irving being the vice-president of the NBPA, the cancellation of the NBA Disney World restart would trigger the force majeure clause in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, allowing the franchises to tear all NBA salary agreements and draft new ones with greater financial footing. 

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The cancellation of the current season will also vastly impact Kyrie Irving's NBA salary. In the first year of his four-year, $140 million contract with the Nets, the guard has already lost $8 million in NBA salary for the season, with the league withholding NBA salary because of coronavirus losses. Furthermore, if Kyrie Irving's coalition completes their mission of bringing down the NBA restart, the rest of the $105 million on his contract will be torn up according to Heavy. With the guard is still in his prime, he can still bag a new contract with a decent enough fee, but his persistent shoulder troubles along with other injury issues mean that Irving’s pay would be knocked back further. According to Heavy, that could bring his value from around $100 million for three years to a $60 million considering the financial implications of the pandemic. 

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NBA Disney World: Kyrie Irving injury update

While Kyrie Irving's side Brooklyn Nets will be travelling to Orlando to take part in the NBA restart, Irving himself will be forced to miss out the truncated end of the current season due to his injury. Irving has missed 26 games since making his way to Brooklyn, before making a mid-January return, where he featured in nine-games including a 54-point effort against Chicago Bulls. However, the team management and Irving decided to proceed with arthroscopic surgery to fix it, meaning the guard's season is effectively over. 

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(Image Credit: NBA.com)